MINUS RILEY, IRISH STILL ADD UP

JEFF GOLDBERG; Courant Staff WriterTHE HARTFORD COURANT

A big part of Notre Dame's game plan wasn't working. A part the Irish weren't planning to use couldn't have worked much better.

The sum of all parts equaled a 67-49 victory over Virginia Tech in the first Big East tournament semifinal at Gampel Pavilion Monday night. The tournament's top-seeded team and the newly re-anointed No. 1 in the polls parlayed a suffocating 2-3 zone and contributions from its less-heralded starters to reach tonight's championship game against UConn.

The Hokies succeeded in taking Big East player of the year Ruth Riley out of Notre Dame's offense, holding her to two points on two second-half free throws. But while Riley took -- and missed -- four shots all game, Kelley Siemon and Alicia Ratay each scored 14 points and Ericka Haney had 12 for Notre Dame (28-1).

"Every time they play us they want to make the less-premier players do well," said Siemon, who had nine rebounds and four assists. "We're such a versatile team. On any given night, anyone can go off."

Fourth-seeded Virginia Tech (21-8) suffered as a whole, shooting 6-for-34 in the first half, often against a zone defense that Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw hadn't planned on using.

"We were prepared to play 40 minutes of man-to-man today, actually," McGraw said. "We went to the zone to just see how it looked, and it looked so good we decided to stay with it. They had a poor shooting night, and when the shots aren't dropping, the basket gets a little smaller."

With the score tied at 6, Notre Dame went on a 24-3 run to assume command. Virginia Tech was 1 of 16 during the run.

"I give Notre Dame credit, they made a great adjustment to the 2-3 zone," Virginia Tech coach Bonnie Henrickson said.

Tere Williams led Virginia Tech with 15 points, but was 5 of 22 from the field. Ieva Kublina (3 of 12, eight points) and Sarah Hicks (2 of 9, six points) also struggled.

"When your three leading scorers are 3-for-30 when you go in the locker room, it is a bad night," Henrickson said.

Riley was a major factor in that, collecting five of Notre Dame's nine blocked shots and grabbing eight rebounds.

"I think the zone is so much more effective when you have the shot-blocker in the middle," McGraw said.

Riley found herself surrounded by two or three Hokies on virtually every possession. She attempted just two shots in the first half, and went to the bench early in the second with three fouls. Riley didn't score until making two free throws with 9:30 left in the game.

"It was a bit of a rough go offensively for me," said Riley, who averaged 20.5 points during Notre Dame's two regular season victories over Virginia Tech. "They did a good job of double-teaming me, which I've faced all year. I didn't do so well handling it today."

Notre Dame beat UConn 92-76 on Jan. 15, in the only meeting between the two this season.

"We are certainly prepared to play Connecticut," McGraw said. "I think we've already proven that we are a great team. I think tomorrow's game, win or lose, doesn't change our No. 1 seed [in the NCAA Tournament]. So I don't think that there is anything more that we need to prove."